A hostess told him that the toilets were closed during takeoff and landing, and he would have to wait 15 minutes.

Danièle said the actor then told the hostess he couldn't wait, and stood up and urinated.

"I will only confirm that he, in effect, urinated in the plane," the Times of Malta quoted a spokeswoman for Air France-KLM, the parent company of CityJet, as saying.

The company also Tweeted: "As you may have seen on the news, we are busy mopping the floor of one of our planes this morning..." and "We'd also like to remind all passengers that our planes are fully equipped with toilet facilities..."

Danièle felt Depardieu had been drunk but his friends said he was sober, and simply desperate to urinate.

The Telegraph reported that friends claimed his two travel companions provided him with an empty bottle, which he tried to use “without any provocation and after making sure he wasn’t seen”. They said a bit of urine ended up on the floor, and that Depardieu apologised and offered to clean the floor himself.